| Endangered Species: Bengal tiger |
Christians burg Elementary
Submitted by: Strawberry, Grade Fifth
Christiansburg, Virginia, United States
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| unknown photograph |
Why Study This Topic?
I want to find out what food the Bengal
tiger eats. I also want to know about the tiger's habitat, who the
tiger's enemies and friends are, and why the Bengal tiger is endangered.
I also want to know how many babies the tiger has,and how old do they have
to be before they live on their own. I wonder if the Bengal tiger
has a special way to hunt, how much it weighs,and how tall it is.
I also want to know how many tigers are left in the world, and how many
there were before they became endangered. I want to know how long
its life span is, and if tigers can smell, and see and hear well.
I'm interested in knowing if it's territorial,and how it shows that it's
territorial. I would also be interested in finding out if it fights
for something (like a mate),and how long have tigers been around.
These are all the things I want to know about the beautiful Bengal tiger.
I'm also intrested in the Bengal tiger because I love their magnificent
colors. I also feel bad for it since it is endangered. The
Bengal tiger is an animal I know little about; that is why I'm studying
it.
What Was Already Known
Before I started searching the Internet, I already
knew tigers were orange with black stripes. I also knew that tigers
were meat eaters from Asia and Africa. Another thing I knew
was that Bengal tigers weigh a lot, but I didn't know how much. I
also knew Bengal tigers were mammals. I'm not sure what kind of meat
they eat. I also knew they live in the jungle, and they mark
their territory. These are the things I knew about the Bengal tiger
before my research.
Search for Information
When I started searching about the Bengal
tiger, I went to Yahooaligans on the Internet. Yahooaligans helped
me find the following web sites : www.oaklandzoo.org/atoz/azbentig.html,
www.tiger.to/tiger_info/info_bengal.htm, and www.5tigers.org/threats2.htm.
Some problems that I encountered were finding the specific tiger (Siberan......)
and finding the exact information I needed. I also read "no web sites
found" a few times on the internet. These are the places and problems
I encountered.
Description of Plant or Animal
The Bengal tiger is one of my favorite
animals. One reason the tiger is one of my favorite animals is because
of its beautiful colors. The Bengal tiger is a reddish fawn, with
white on the stomach, and black stripes. The Bengal tiger weighs
350-550 pounds, and with a body lenth of five feet ten inches to nine feet
one inch. The tail is normally 36 inches long. The eyes of
the tiger are large and can see well; the tiger also has strong, powerful
teeth and can hear well. This is my desription of the wonderful Bengal
tiger.
Habitat Requirements
The Bengal tiger is a meat eater that eats
cattle, young buffalo, young elephants, deer, wild pigs, and antelope (anything
over 100 pounds). The Bengal tiger's shelter is dense thickets, long
grass, and tamarisk shrubs along the river banks. Another place tigers
like to stay is in old ruins for cover. The male patrols his space
(territory) regularly. He shows his territory limits by scraping
a tree or scent marking. The Bengal tiger also likes to swim in cool
water on a hot day(swim very well).
Adaptations
Some of the Bengal tiger's characteristics
are good eyesight and hearaing; the Bengal tigers have developed
ear flaps, so they can hear well. They also have well-padded paws.
Some of the enemies of the Bengal tiger are porcupines. Its quills
can get in their mouth. This makes it hard for them to hunt, and
its #1 enemy is human.
Reasons for Endangerment
The reason the Bengal tiger is endangered
is because people are poaching it. Another reason is habitat loss,
which means large forest are being cut down for timber or conversion.
One more problem is population fragmentation which means humans move into
more forests every day, and the tiger families get separated. In
the beginning there was 100,000 Bengal tigers. Now there is only 8,000
left in the wild.
Restoration Actions
Some people have organized groups
to help save the wonderful Bengal tiger. I think these are great
things to do. They protect the future generation, and try to stop
pouching, and land habitat loss. I hope the Bengal tiger will have
many more generations to come!
What Was Learned
I have learned that
the Bengal tiger has many characteristics such as it hears well, and one
of the Bengal tiger's enemies is the porcupine. I have also learned
not only pouching and habitat loss are endangerments but people are also
separating Bengal tigers from their family groups. Some of the actions
taken are organizing groups for the Bengal tiger, and the laws saying that
pouching is illegal. This is what I learned.
Conclusions From Research
Since I have searched
I am very aware that people should take care of the Bengal tigers.
Searching the internet has made my skills better on computer because I
now know how to find the exact animal type. I have learned that the
people in the world nead to realize what they are doing wrong by killing
the Bengal tiger. I have never had a chance to do a big report (web
page) before and now that I have done one, I think they are a good opporunity.
The next time I do a report it will be very easy.
Bibliography
One of the books I used to do my reasearch was Our
Wildlife World Tigers, which was written by Bill Ivy. The pages
that I used were p. 24, p. 31, and p. 46. This was the book I used.
http://www.oaklandzoo.org
http://www.tiger.to
http://www.5tigers.org
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Christiansburg Elementary |
Last updated on January 25, 2000
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